This devoted father doesn't think he did anything extraordinary when he chose to focus on his kids rather than his career.
Sometimes, tragic things happen to good people and as adults, we just have to learn to adapt quickly. Most parents put the needs of their kids before themselves and if that means upturning their lives, they still do it. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids star Rick Moranis, known for his comic role as a dad in the film, was a sought after man in the 1990s but even though he made people laugh, he went through something devastatingly tragic himself. What happened to him and his family isn't uncommon, but what he did for his children is. Though, he doesn't think so.
Moranis, who was married to costume designer Ann Belsky, became a widower in February 1991, when she died of breast cancer. They had been married for only five years and they had two young children, Rachel and Mitchell.
Moranis was a box office star in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to his films like Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs and The Flintstones. When Belsky passed away, he was left as the primary caregiver of his two kids. So, he decided to step back a year after she died to take care of them, according to People. He gradually left the spotlight to be a single father. However, he never left the showbusiness completely, he told The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
The father-of-two said that he didn't disengage from public life as "a formal decision." Instead, it started in "an already busy year where I declined a film that was being shot out of town as the school year was beginning. But I was fortunate to be able to continue to make a living writing and doing voice work in Manhattan."
"I took a break, which turned into a longer break," he told THR. "But I’m interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role and as soon as one comes along that piques my interest I'll probably do it."
He was in no hurry to come back to working in front of the camera and just accepted the cards that life had dealt him. "Stuff happens to people all the time, and people make adjustments, change careers, move to another city," he told THR. "Really, that’s all I did."
The devoted father has no dismay that his life did not turn out a certain way. He had continued to do voice work, since it was less demanding, and raise his kids, who are all grown up now.
"I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people," he said of the time he was at the peak. "I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me." He added, "I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful."
When the Ghostbusters reboot was made recently, the creators wanted him there for a cameo, but he refused to reprise the iconic role even though his previous castmates agreed to it. "I wish them well," said he. "I hope it's terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago?"
However, the actor is finally ready for a comeback since 1996’s Big Bully. The 66-year-old, who had played scientist Wayne Szalinski in the 1989 Disney classic Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and its 1992 sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, is taking up this role again. Josh Gad will play the role of his son in this movie.
References:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/rick-moranis-reveals-why-he-829779
